DIGGING DEEP NO. 1007 – October 24, 2023 LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON – ALMOST (PART 1) Gen.25: 19 – 34.

Genesis is a record of ten successive generations. Generations come and go, but the LORD remains and never changes Ps.90: 1- 2. Isaac was the son of a famous father and the father of a famous son and this sometimes makes us tend to forget him. He was a quiet meditative man Gen.24: 63, who would rather pack up and leave than confront his enemies. Isaac wasn’t a failure; he was just different. Discovering our uniqueness and using it to the glory of God is the challenge that makes life what it is. No generation stands alone, because each new generation is bound to previous generations whether we like it or not. Isaac was bound to Abraham and Sarah by ties that couldn’t be ignored or easily broken. Let’s look at some of those ties and discover what they teach us about our own life of faith today.

He received his father’s inheritance – Abraham recognized his other children by giving them gifts and sending them away, but Isaac along with his father’s immense wealth also inherited the covenant blessings that God had given Abraham and Sarah Gen.12: 1- 3. The most important part of Isaac’s legacy wasn’t the great material wealth his father had left him. Isaac’s most important legacy was the spiritual wealth from his father and mother; knowing and trusting the true and living God. How tragic it is when the children of devout Christian believers turn their backs on their priceless spiritual heritage and like Ishmael and Esau, live for the world and the flesh instead of for the Lord.

He prayed to his father’s God – Gen.25: 21 when Isaac was forty years old, God selected Rebekah to be his wife. Isaac and Rebekah had to wait for twenty years, but no children came. Abraham and Sarah had to wait for twenty-five years for Isaac to be born. Jacob had to labor for fourteen years to obtain his two wives. Like Abraham, Isaac was a man of prayer; he interceded with the Lord on behalf of his barren wife.

A distressed home – Gen.25: 22- 23 each child would produce a nation, and these two nations (Edom and Israel) would compete, but the younger would master the older. Just as God had chosen Isaac the secondborn and not Ishmael the firstborn; so He chose Jacob the secondborn and not Esau, the firstborn. That the younger should rule the elder was contrary to human tradition and logic, but the sovereign God made the choice and God never makes mistakes Rom.9: 10- 12. Jacob and Esau were different in personality. Esau was an outdoorsman who was a successful hunter, while Jacob was a homeboy. Jacob was Rebekah’s favorite while Esau was Isaac’s favorite. It is unfortunate when homes are divided because parents and children put their own personal desires ahead of the will of God. Isaac enjoyed eating the tasty game that Esau brought home and Rebekah enjoyed the company of Jacob at home.

He faced his father’s temptation – Gen.26: 1- 11 true faith is always tested, either by temptations within us or trials around us, because a faith that can’t be tested can’t be trusted. God tests us to bring out the best in us, but Satan tempts us to bring out the worst in us. When Abraham arrived in Canaan, he found a famine in the land and faced his first serious test of faith Gen.12: 10; 13: 1- 4. His solution was to abandon the place God had chosen for him, thus establishing a bad example for his descendants. When Isaac faced the problem of famine, he decided to go to Gerar, the capital city of the Philistines, and get help from Abimelech. God permitted Isaac to remain in Philistia because God had promised Abraham that his descendants would possess all those lands Gen.12: 2- 3, 17: 3- 8, 22: 15- 18. God blessed Isaac for Abraham’s sake, just as He has blessed believers today for the sake of Jesus Christ.

The temptation to lie – Gen.26: 7- 11 Isaac was asked about the woman who was with him and, like his father Abraham, he said she was his sister Gen.12: 14- 20. Why did Isaac lie? Because he was afraid his pagan host would kill him in order to obtain his beautiful wife.

John Dryden wrote, “Truth is the foundation of all knowledge and the cement of all societies”. When people don’t keep their word, the foundations of society begin to shake and things start to fall apart. Happy homes, lasting friendships, thriving businesses, stable governments, and effective churches all depend on truth for their success. Phillips Brooks said, “Truth is always strong, no matter how weak it looks; and falsehood is always weak, no matter how strong it looks”. Truth is cement; falsehood is whitewash.

In Conclusion – It’s an embarrassment when unbelievers publicly expose God’s servants for telling lies.